The Kasparov Chess Foundation announces University Cup

11/30/2021 – The Kasparov Chess Foundation announces the second annual KCF University Cup, which will take place online, February 5 - 6, 2022. The tournament is open to teams from colleges and universities from all over the world.

Going round and coming back

11/30/2021 – Pawn endings must be calculated precisely. In the diagram position it is Black to move and win - if he finds the right square(s) for his king. What should Black do?

Chess arbiters and the three-fold draw

11/29/2021 – "The difference between not the best arbiter and a good one," IA Tomasz Delega writes, in the October issue of the ECU E-magazine, "is that the first one knows the rules and the second one understands also, what these rules are for." He explains the situation using the example of the three-fold draw claim: how must this be correctly handled?

Karsten Müller’s Endgame Magic Show #172: Endgame highlights from the European Team Championship

11/29/2021 – In the Endgame Magic Show #172 Karsten Müller and Arne Kähler look at interesting endgames from the European Team Championship. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

Fritz 18: Play and share brilliancies - and win in the Fritz 18 lottery!

11/29/2021 – The new AI-based training method "Easy Game" helps you to play brilliancies against Fritz18! After mating Fritz18 you can publish your game with one click or you can send it per email to ChessBase to take part in the great Fritz 18 lottery. Join the action!
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Grotesque chess problems

11/29/2021 – Look at this position. Black still has all his pieces on the board, while White has just a single pawn, on its original square. So what is the task? "White to play and win" says the composer, one of the most imaginative in history. Born in 1860, Ottó Titusz Bláthy composed a large number of "Grotesques", extremely unusual positions in which White must win against much larger black forces. These problems are generally intended to be humorous. We hope you enjoy our examples, which should also serve to remind you how you can move the pieces, play and analyse right there on our news page diagrams.

World Championship: Game 3 annotated by David Navara

11/29/2021 – Game 3 of the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi was full of opening subtleties and refined maneuvering that, however, eventually led to the third draw of the match. David Navara took a closer look at the game and its hidden subtleties.

World Championship Game 3: A ‘dumb’ move, a draw

11/28/2021 – The battle of theoretical preparations continues at the World Championship match, with Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi signing a third consecutive draw on Sunday before the first rest day in Dubai. Once again, the defending champion deviated from mainstream theory only to see his opponent well prepared and ready to discuss the ensuing sidelines. | Photo: Eric Rosen

Understanding before Moving 55: Pawn vs knight (2)

11/28/2021 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books about chess training and chess strategy. In the 55th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman continues to talk about pawns which terrorize knights. | Photo: Tommy Grooten

World Championship: Game 2 annotated by Luke McShane

11/28/2021 – A remarkable battle between the protagonists of the 2021 World Championship match ended in a draw on Saturday. It was the second tense draw in a row, with both contenders showing deep theoretical preparation. Game 2 was a Catalan, and by no means was it a boring positional struggle. Grandmaster Luke McShanes analyses. | Photo: Niki Riga

World Championship Game 2: Sharp Catalan ends drawn

11/27/2021 – A second consecutive tense draw was seen on Saturday at the World Championship match in Dubai. Once again, Magnus Carlsen deviated from mainstream theory early in the game, pushing his opponent to solve difficult problems over the board from the get go. Ian Nepomniachtchi showed great nerves to keep things under control, and even got some winning chances in a complex middlegame. The tension continues to rise in Dubai! | Photo: Eric Rosen / FIDE

Sagar and Amruta in Dubai: Day 2 impressions

11/27/2021 – Want to get a glimpse of how things look in Dubai at the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi? The dynamic duo of Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal have made their way to the venue and are producing plenty of content on their YouTube channel. Take a look! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

World Championship: Game 1 annotated by Michael Adams

11/27/2021 – The 2021 World Championship match kicked off on Friday, with a fighting draw. English star Michael Adams annotates the first game of the confrontation between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi. Adams concludes: “An interesting opening encounter, it will be intriguing to see if Magnus repeats his opening choice in game 3”. | Photo: Eric Rosen

Study of the Month: Strong law of small numbers

11/27/2021 – Richard Kenneth Guy was a British mathematician, with a passion for chess. Siegfried Hornecker's "Study of the Month" is all about this great "Guy", his life, and his studies. The professor of mathematics, who composed almost 200 endgame studies for the "British Chess Magazine", died last year at the age of 103. | Photo: Wikipedia

Light square invasion

11/27/2021 – In the diagram position, 26.Rxb7! paves the way for ... Well, that's for you to find out. Checkmate on the horizon - enjoy!

Sagar and Amruta in Dubai: Day 1 impressions

11/26/2021 – The dynamic duo of Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal (pictured) have made their way to Dubai to follow closely the highly anticipated World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi. As usual, they are producing a ton of video material for their YouTube Channel. Not to be missed! | Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich

Daniel King’s Power Play Show: Spectacular Shirov - again

11/26/2021 – In this week’s show, GM Daniel King presents puzzle positions from games of Nepomniachtchi and Carlsen but for the main dish of the day he shows another spectacular attack from Alexei Shirov. | Power Play is on air most Fridays. Watch it on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer.

World Championship Game 1: Tension in the air

11/26/2021 – The much-anticipated confrontation between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi kicked off at 16:30 local time in Dubai. The first game of the World Championship match finished in a draw. Playing black, Carlsen was the first one to deviate from well-known theoretical lines, but Nepomniachtchi proved to be prepared to face the variation chosen by the defending champion. A tense endgame developed, with both contenders missing small chances here and there. The draw was signed after 45 moves. | Photo: Eric Rosen

Trent's Tactics - World Championships Special (I)

11/26/2021 – What do Tal, Euwe, Botvinnik, Petrosian and Alekhine have in common? They all appear on today's episode! Lawrence Trent shows us a couple of World Chess Championship games, of the earlier mentioned Grandmasters. We also advance to a 2250 rating, of the ChessBase training app, but fail to solve a 2497 points high rating. Can you guess it correctly?

Carlsen vs Nepomniachtchi: Strengths, weaknesses and a prognosis

11/26/2021 – The World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi promises exciting games. After all, the World Champion and his Challenger have very different styles. French GM Romain Edouard took a close look at the strengths and weaknesses of both players to find out who has the better chances to win the match - and why. | Image: FIDE

Robert Ris: Calculation Training in Attack & Defence Vol. 1 - A Review

11/26/2021 – Every month a few ChessBase DVDs get released. Which one to get and which one to pass? Which one should be prioritized? Well, that you have to figure out on your own or with the help of your trainers or sparring partners. Once you have figured out the area you need to improve on or become stronger, it becomes that much easier to select a DVD and start working on it. Aanjaneya Phatak, shares his own personal experience as he reviews the latest DVD by Robert Ris, titled Calculation Training in Attack & Defence. Check out the review and see if it helps you to decide buying this DVD.

Chess at the Spanish Pavilion

11/26/2021 – In a smart move, the Spanish decided to hold a worldwide school chess tournament at the Expo 2020. The best teams, including a bunch of remarkably strong kids from India, are now competing in the finals at the Spanish pavilion. On Wednesday, they were visited by Magnus Carlsen and Judit Polgar. | Images: Patricia Claros

Mumbai to Dubai: A first look at the FIDE World Championship Match 2021

11/26/2021 – The World Championship is about to begin on the 26th of November 2021. Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal have made their way from Mumbai to Dubai to bring you on the ground coverage of the biggest event of the year. Magnus Carlsen is going to play his 5th World Championship Match in the last 8 years, while this will be the first shot at the title for the Challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi. A lot of interesting things have already happened leading to the match, and in this article we tell you about the venue of the event - the massive Dubai Expo 2020, the press conference and the opening ceremony! Along with it Sagar gives you a personal account of his experience of travel from India to the UAE and reaching the World Championship venue.

A crossword for chess fans

11/25/2021 – The World Championship match will start very soon, and is scheduled to run over 14 exciting games. When one of the rounds is over, says CHESS Magazine, London, why not enjoy a chess-themed crossword composition. We reprint the puzzle here, without the solution (which we will add at the end of the match). Maybe our readers can solve the puzzle communally, in the feedback section below the article?